Plant and process for fluidized bed reduction of ore

ABSTRACT

An improved FIOR processing plant and method for reducing raw iron ore fines into a 90+% metallized briquette product utilizing a multi-stage fluidized bed reactor in which the reducing and fluidizing gases are the products of partial combustion of methane with oxygen, the gases being introduced into an intermediate zone of the reducing tower above the stage or stages where final metallization occurs. Said processing plant including an ore preparation and feed assembly, a multi-stage reactor assembly, a briquetting assembly, a recycle and fresh reducing gas assembly, and, a heat recuperation assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application is a divisional application of Ser. No. 07/501,490,filed Mar. 30, 1990.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method for reducing ore; and moreparticularly to an improved FIOR method for producing a stable, reducediron ore from ore fines.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Previously, there have been a number of methods and processes forreducing ore by means of fluidized-bed reactors, which use gas or gasmixtures to reduce the ore and to fluidize the bed. The reducing andfluidizing gas for these processes is produced in special plants, forinstance by the steam-reforming process, starting from hydrocarbons andsteam. However, that process requires separate plants for gas productionand these are very costly, thus markedly increasing the cost of thefinal product.

Another way of preparing the reducing gases is also known, involving thepartial combustion of fuel oil and other higher hydrocarbons.

The injection of a sub-stoichiometric mixture of hydrocarbons and airdirectly into the reducing bed has also been proposed. Although thisdoes away with the costly plants previously needed to make reducinggases, it has its drawbacks: for instance, the sulphur content of thefuel oil, which contaminates the metal produced, the fact that part ofthe hydrocarbon cracks producing carbon black directly in the reducingbed, and the fact that the nitrogen contained in the air used builds upin the plant.

Accordingly, there is a need for a process eliminating these drawbacks,permitting direct reduction of ores in fluid beds cheaply and with nopossibility of the metal produced being contaminated with sulphur.

The FIOR process was developed by ESSO Research and Engineering Companyin the late 1950's and early 1960's. The process was intended to produceDirect Reduced Iron (DRI) briquettes by a Fluidized Iron Ore Reduction(FIOR) processing scheme which used iron ore fines as a feedstock. Thefluidizing gas was provided by the reforming of light hydrocarbon gases.

The first process development work was done at a 5 ton/day pilot plantat the ESSO Research Labs in Baton Rouge, La. Test work began in 1962and terminated in 1966. Based upon the preliminary results of this testwork, a semi-commercial plant was built in Darmouth, Nova Scotia. Theplant had a design capacity of 300 tons/day, and operated from 1965 to1969. A total of 56,000 tons of DRI briquettes were produced, equivalentto only 15% of the expected production at the design rate.

During the ensuing years, the plant operations personnel continued toimprove the process by way of mechanical and operational refinements.These refinements were often implemented in the field without benefit ofengineering studies, due to the limited resources of the company. Theseimprovements resulted in a steady increase in production, and the plantreached 96% of design production in 1986.

Competing pellet based DRI processes cannot utilize iron ore fines forfeed as the FIOR process does. These processes had previously requiredmuch less energy per ton of product, but their energy consumptions haveincreased recently as they have incorporated hot briquetting, a processthat FIOR research pioneered. Therefore, an improved FIOR design couldbe more viable than competing DRI processes for many areas which possesslarge quantities of ore fines, have low energy costs, and need to exportDRI.

The net result of this developmental process is that the present plantdesign and operation has improved over the original contemplateddesigns. A new plant utilizing the FIOR process would have toincorporate the changes in order to be thermally efficient andeconomical. In addition to these already implemented changes, a newplant design would have to include equipment and process improvementsthat are made possible by current technology and by better knowledge ofthe process shortcomings.

The previous design was not intended to be thermally efficient due tothe very low natural gas prices that were prevalent 15 years ago. Today,a DRI plant has to be as thermally efficient as possible due to the highincidence of fuel cost upon the overral production cost, even incountries with relatively inexpensive energy. The improved designcontemplates a 25% decrease in energy requirements as compared to theprevious design.

The plot configuration utilized in the previous design was not optimizedwith respect to economy of layout. The previous design is a hybrid ofold refinery and steelmaking technology, and is characterized by largeplot areas. Competing DRI processes are much more compact. A morecompact FIOR plant layout would result in economics of construction(less piping and structure) and operation (fewer operators). Theimproved design will result in a reduction in plant operating equipmentplot areas of up to 40%, and a decrease in operating manpower of up to25%.

Another area covered by the improved design is mechanical reliability.Some pieces of mechanical equipment that have historically beentroublesome in the previous design are either replaced by more reliableequipment or removed in the improved design. In addition, designimprovements have been included to eliminate problems of dust ingestioninto equipment, which has caused equipment operating problems in theprevious design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an improved process for reducingore utilizing a multi-stage fluidized bed reactor in which the reducingand fluidizing gases are the products of partial combustion of methanewith oxygen, the gases being introduced into an intermediate zone of thereducing tower above the stage or stages where final metallizationoccurs. The process takes place at pressures of between 1 and 15atmospheres and methane and oxygen in sub-stoichiometric proportions,are introduced into a combustion chamber, the outlet of which isconnected to the reactor in an intermediate zone, for instance: betweenthe last and the next-to-the-last reduction beds. In the reductionchamber the methane reacts with the oxygen to produce carbon monoxide,hydrogen and water and a small percentage of carbon dioxide. Part of themethane, generally less than 10%, remains unburnt and circulates in thereactors without causing trouble. The gas thus produced, together withthe gas coming from the lower stages of metallization, passes throughthe upper beds where the ore is in a low-reduced state. In this way theamounts of CO₂ and H₂ O present do not hinder the progress of this phaseof the reduction process. Once the reducing gas has passed through thereactor and emerged from its top, the dust and the water it has pickedup are separated out and the CO₂ removed, after which the gas isreheated and sent to the last reducing bed.

In this way, the reducing gas, composed essentially of CO and H₂, is fedprecisely in the zone where the presence of a pure reducing gas is mostnecessary, thus completing the ore reduction process. The carbon blackproduced in the partial combustion chamber can be removed before itenters through the grating of the overlying fluidized bed.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to provide amore efficient FIOR process.

A further object of this invention is to provide a more economical FIORprocess.

A further object of this invention is to provide a more compact FIORprocess.

A further object of this invention is to provide a process where foulingof reactor internals is minimized or reduced.

A further object of this invention is to provide a stable reducedproduct which is easily transported over long distances.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature of the present invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall plant including ore preheatreactor assembly, reducing reactor assembly, and recycle gas assembly.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ore preparation and feed system.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the reducing gas, reformed heatrecuperation, reformed gas cooling and shift, and reformed gas CO₂removal systems.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the briquetting system.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts thoughout the several viewsof the drawings and numbers in ( ) correspond to stream properties.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The Plant Assembly

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is directed towards aprocessing plant assembly, generally referred to as 11, and process forreducing finely divided iron oxide material in a circulating fluidizedbed. Hereinafter, individual components and assemblies shall be referredto numerically and may be referenced in the drawings. In addition, flowstreams and product referred to in the process description shall bereferred to by numerals in parentheses () and may be referenced in thetable included at the end of the detailed description describing thecomposition of said flow streams and product.

Referring to FIG.1, the processing plant assembly 11 is comprised of anore preparation assembly 101, an ore feed assembly 201, a preheatreactor assembly 301, a reducing reactor assembly 401, a reducing gaspreparation assembly 501, a recycle gas assembly 601, a reducing gasdelivery assembly 701, a briquetting assembly 801, and, a utilitiesassembly.

The Ore Preparation Assembly

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ore preparation assembly 101 iscomprised of an ore feed loading hopper 103 for loading ore from trucks,etcetera; a conveyor belt 105 for conveying ore from the hopper 103 to adrier feed bin 107; a drier weight feeder 109 for conveying a measuredamount of ore to an ore drier 111; an air blower 113 for blowingcombustion air through a furnace section of the drier 111; dry cyclones115 for separating entrained ore fines from combustion gases leaving thedrier 111; a conveyor 117 for conveying ore from the drier 111 to asplitter hopper 119; a diverter gate 121 for diverting ore from saidsplitter hopper 119 to two main ore feed bins 123, 125.

Wet iron ore fines under 1/2" in diameter and with a suitable particlesize distribution for use in fluid beds are loaded into the ore feedloading hopper 103, which is located at grade. The fines are transferredfrom the hopper 103 by a conveyor belt 105 to the drier feed bin 107.The drier feed bin 107 includes a drier weight feeder 109 located at thedischarge outlet. The feeder 109 provides an adjustable, continuous orefine feed rate in order that ore may be metered out at a pre-determinedrate to the ore drier 111.

The ore drier 111 is a rotary kiln drier burning natural gas fuelprovided at natural gas inlet 112 in a stream of air provided by ablower 113. The ore drier 111 dries the wet iron ore fines under 1/2" toa free water content of under 0.2% and a temperature of 100°-110° C. Thedried ore fines exitting the drier 111 are deposited onto a conveyor 117for further transport.

Combustion gases exiting from the dryer 111 are directed by an exhaustpipe network 127 through dry cyclones 115 in order to remove entrainedore fines, through a venturi type scrubber 129 to clean the exhaustgases, through an induced draft fan 131 utilized to accelerate the flowof exhaust gases, and out of a vent stack 133 into the atmosphere. Thede-entrained ore fines settle to the bottom of the dry cyclones 115where they are either re-directed onto the conveyor 117 with the orefines mainstream or are deposited into a storage pile 116.

The conveyor 117 provides a transport means for conveying fines from thethe drier feed bin 107 to the two main ore feed bins 123, 125. Asplitter hopper 119 and diverter gate 121 are located above the two orefeed bins 123, 125 and beneath the end of the conveyor 117 for divertingfines into either or each of the respective main feed bins 123, 125 fromthe conveyor 117. The two main feed bins 123, 125 have level probes toavoid overfilling and closable outlets at the bottom to allow for flowof ore fines into the ore feed assembly 201, and include a storagecapacity of a 10-12 hour inventory of fines. The 10-12 hour storagecapacity allows the ore preparation assembly to be shut down formaintenance without affecting plant operation.

The Ore Feed Assembly

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ore feed assembly 201 is comprised oftwo variable speed feed conveyors 203 and 205; two high angle flexiblewall type conveyors 207 and 209; two discharge chutes 211 and 213; alockhopper surge bin 215; a lockhopper charge conveyor 217; a weight bin219 including multiple load cells 221; a diverter valve 223; two reactorore feed systems 225, 227; two rotating drum feeders 261, 263; and,preheater reactor connecting pipes 269, 271 equipped with isolationvalves 273, 275.

Two variable speed feed conveyors 203, 205 located beneath the main feedbins 123, 125 are each designed to handle a feed capacity of up to 120%of the plant design feed rate to the preheat reactor assembly 301 andtransport the ore from the two main ore feed bins 123, 125 onto two highangle flexible wall type conveyors 207, 209. The excess capacity of theconveyors 203, 205 allows for usage of only one conveyor 203 or 205, onemain feed bin 123 or 125, and one conveyor 207 or 209 during a givenperiod of time. The design is such that the feed bin 123 feeds into theconveyors 203 and 207; while the feed bin 125 feeds into the conveyors205 and 209. The high angle conveyors 207, 209 carry the ore fines tothe top of a reactor structure, which contains the preheat and reactorassemblies 301, 401 and is about 80 meters above grade. From the highangle conveyors 207, 209, the ore is fed through two special dischargechutes 211, 213, corresponding to respective of the conveyors 207, 209,and into a lockhopper surge bin 215 located at the top entrance of thereactor structure. The lockhopper surge bin 215 is implemented in orderto assure constant ore feed to the preheat assembly 301. A lockhoppercharge conveyor 217 is located beneath the discharge port of the surgebin 215 and transports ore from the lockhopper surge bin 215 to theweigh bin 219. The weigh bin 219 includes multiple load cells 221 forweighing a pre-determined charge of ore. Once this pre-determined amounthas been deposited into the weigh bin 219, the charge conveyor 217automatically shuts down.

The surge bin 215 includes level probes for maintaining surge bin levelswithin a pre-determined range. The level probes connect to controlsmonitoring the speed of said variable speed conveyors 203, 205 forautomatic adjustment of feed rate depending on the surge bin levels.

Once the weigh bin 219 is filled, a valve is opened at the bottom ofsaid weigh bin 219 and a diverter valve 223 located beneath the weighbin 219 directs the depositing of fines into one of two ore feed systems225, 227.

The two reactor ore feed systems 225, 227 are situated in parallel,where each of said reactor ore feed systems 225, 227 is designed toindividually meet a pre-specified preheat reactor ore feed rate in orderthat one of the two feed systems 225, 227 may deliver said pre-specifiedpreheat reactor ore feed rate in the event of mechanical failure of theother feed system 225, 227. Each of said reactor ore feed systems 225,227 comprises an upper lockhopper 229, 231 respectively, a lowerlockhopper 233, 235 respectively, connected in series, and apressurizing system (not shown) for pressurizing the respectivelockhoppers 229, 231, 233, 235. Each of said lockhoppers 229, 231, 233,235 comprise a conical pressure vessel 237, 239, 241, 243; and, amaterial inlet valve 245, 247, 249, 251.

The weigh bin 219 being located above the upper lockhoppers 229, 231allows for gravity feed to the respective reactor ore feed systems 225,227. When the weigh bin 219 is emptying its contents, the material inletvalves 245, 247 of the upper lockhoppers 229, 231 are open to receivethe dry ore fines at atmospheric pressure. During this filling process,the material inlet valves 249, 251 of the lower lockhoppers 233, 235remain closed in order to maintain the lower lockhopper pressure atpre-determined preheat reactor pressure levels. Once the contents of theweigh bin 219 have been emptied into the upper lockhoppers 229, 231, thematerial inlet valves 245, 247 are closed and the upper lockhoppers 229,231 are pressurizable.

The upper and lower lockhopper pressure vessels 237, 239, 241, 243 arerespectively pressurizable by said pressurizing system to apre-determined preheat reactor pressure, such that the pressure of saidupper and lower vessels may be equalized, once the pressure between thetwo lockhoppers is equal, and the lower lockhoppers 233, 235 have a lowore inventory, the material inlet valves 249, 251 opens and the entireore charge is transferred to the lower lockhoppers 233, 235 by gravity.The material inlet valves 249, 251 between the two lockhoppers thencloses and the upper lockhoppers 229, 231 are de-pressurized to awaitanother charge. The ore contained in the lower lockhopper 233, 235 ismetered into the preheat reactor assembly 301 by rotating drum feeder261, 263. The conducts 269, 271 connect the lockhoppers 233, 235 to thepreheat reactor assembly 301.

The Ore Preparation and Feed Process

Referring to FIG. 2, wet iron ore fines under 1/2" in diameter and witha suitable particle size distribution for use in fluid beds are loadedinto an ore feed loading hopper 103 located at grade. The fines aretransferred from the hopper by a conveyor belt 105 to a drier feed bin107 which is equipped with a drier weigh feeder 109 at the discharge ofthe bin. The feeder provides a constant but adjustable ore fines feedrate to the ore drier 111.

The ore drier 111 is a rotary kiln drier which dries the wet iron ore(39) to a free water content of under 0.2%. The drier 111 burns naturalgas (41) in a stream of air (42) provided by a blower 113. Thecombustion gases (43) exiting from the drier pass through dry cyclones115 where part of the entrained fine ore particles are removed. Thefines can either be returned to the dried ore being transported to themain ore feed bins 123, 125, or they can be diverted to the ore storagearea 116 in the event that there are excess fines in the reducingreactor circuit. The combustion gases are directed along a line 127 tobe cleaned in a venturi type scrubber 129, exhausted via an induceddraft fan 131, and vented through a vent stack 133.

The dried ore (40) exits the drier at a temperature of 100°-110° C., andis transported by a conveyor 117 to a splitter hopper located above thetwo main ore feed bins 123, 125. The ore fines are directed to one ofthe two bins by means of a diverter gate 121. The bins are equipped withlevel probes to avoid overfilling.

The two main feed bins contain a 10-12 hour inventory of iron ore. Thisallows the ore preparation area to be shut down for maintenance withoutaffecting plant operation. The bins are equipped with variable speedfeed conveyors 203, 205 on the bottom. The variable speed feed conveyorsare designed for up to 120% of the design dry ore feed rate to thereactor circuit, which permits using only one main feed bin and oneconveyor at a time. The feed conveyor in service discharges onto a highangle flexible wall type conveyor 207 or 209 which carries the ore finesto the top of the reactor structure, about 80 meters above grade. Eachmain feed bin is equipped with a flexible wall conveyor in order toguarantee constant ore feed to the process. The discharge chutes of thetwo flexible wall conveyors terminate in a lockhopper surge bin 215 atthe top of the reactor structure.

The lockhopper surge bin is equipped with a lockhopper charge conveyor217 which feeds ore into a weigh bin sitting on load cells. The chargeconveyor shuts down when the total weight in the bin reaches a presetamount. A diverter valve 223 located below the weigh bin directs the orecharge to one of the two ore feed systems. The lockhopper surge bin isequipped with level probes which speed up or slow down the variablespeed feed conveyor on the main ore feed bin that is in service in orderto maintain the lockhopper surge bin level within an acceptable range.

There are two parallel reactor ore feed systems which consist of twolockhoppers in series. A lockhopper is a conical pressure vessel whichhas material inlet and outlet valves as well as a pressurizing systemusing compressed air. Once the ore charge has been weighed into theupper lockhopper 229 or 231 from the surge bin, the upper mineral inletvalve is closed and the lockhopper is pressurized to preheat reactorpressure. Once the pressure between the two lockhoppers is equal, andthe lower lockhopper has a low ore inventory, the valve between the twolockhoppers opens and the entire ore charge is transferred to the lowerlockhopper 233 or 235 by gravity. The valve between the two lockhoppersthen closes and the upper lockhopper is depressurized to await anothercharge. The ore contained in the lower lockhopper is metered into thepreheat reactor by a rotating drum feeder 261 or 263.

Both of the two parallel ore feed lockhopper systems are designed for upto 120% of the design ore feed rate to the preheat reactor. Normallyboth systems are in service at a 50% capacity. In case of a mechanicalfailure in one of the two systems, it is removed from service and thecapacity of the other system is increased to 100% in order to maintainore feed rate.

The Preheat Reactor Assembly

Referring to FIG. 1, the preheat reactor assembly 301 is comprised of anore preheat reactor 303 including dry ore feed inlet ports 305, 307,preheated dry ore (33) feed outlet ports 308, 314, an air intake port310, and a gas exhaust port 312; a combustion air supply assembly 309; anatural gas supply assembly 311; an exhaust gas assembly 313; and, apreheat reactor feeder assembly 315.

The preheat reactor 303 comprises a carbon steel shell; a dualinsulation and refractory layer internally lining said shell; a gasdistribution grid in the lower part of the reactor 303; and, a cyclonesystem in the upper part of the reactor. The grid and cyclone system aremade of heat resistant alloy. The grid comprises a flat perforatedcircular plate that is slightly smaller in diameter than the inside ofthe reactor. The circular plate is sealed to said steel shell by meansof a vertical cylinder comprised of thin plate steel supported centrallyby vertical, small diameter tubes jutting through holes perforated insaid circular plate and welded in place.

The cyclone system is comprised of pairs of primary and secondarycyclones. The cyclones are located in front of the gas exhaust port 312and are designed to remove entrained iron ore fines from exitingcombustion gases. A recycle conduit connects the material outlet of thecyclone to the bottom of the reactor 303 providing a path forde-entrained ore fines to be returned to the main ore fines flowstreamprior to exiting through the ore outlet port 308.

The air intake port 310 is located at the bottom of the reactor 303, sothat any entering air flow is forced through said tubes providing anevenly distributed gaseous flow across the cross sectional area of saidpreheat reactor. A combustion air supply assembly 309 is designed toprovide desired quantities of forced air flow through the intake port310, developing a counter-current flow to the ore fines gravity flow,and creating a fluidized bed of iron ore fines.

A series of natural gas burners are located inside said preheat reactor303 about 1 meter above the grid and are supplied by a natural gasassembly 311. Preferably, an air to natural gas ratio is maintained sothat there is about 2% 0₂ content in the flue gas for flue gas for goodcombustion.

The combustion air supply assembly 309 includes a centrifugal aircompressor 317 and a reformer heat recuperation system 319. Thecentrifugal air compressor 317 is equipped with suction filters toeliminate dust and water-cooled intercoolers to remove the heat ofcompression. The combustion air is compressed to about 13-14 kg/cm², andis preheated to 700-750 degrees C. in the reformer heat recuperatorsystem 319.

The exhaust gas assembly 313 includes a refractory lined reactor outletpipe 321; a gas quench assembly 323, a venturi type scrubber 326; anexhaust line 325 including two pressure letdown valves 327, 328; and, astack 329. The refractory lined reactor outlet pipe 321 connects the gasexhaust port 312 to the gas quench assembly 323. From the gas quenchassembly 323, the exhaust line 325 carries the cooled exhaust gasthrough the venturi scrubber 326, through the pressure letdown valves327, 328 for depressurizing the exiting gases before release, andthrough the stack 329 for release into the atmosphere.

The preheat reactor feeder assembly 315 includes a fabric of linkingrefractory lined pipes extending from the ore feeder assembly 301through the preheat reactor and to the reactor assembly 401. A pair ofrefractory lined, preheat reactor ore inlet pipes 331, 333 connect thedry ore feeder outlet pipes 269, 271 to the ore inlet ports 305, 307located near the top of said preheat reactor 303. The ore inlet pipesinclude isolation valves for maintaining constant solid flow from saidfeeder assembly 201 and into the reactor assembly 301. Additionally, aninert gas source supplies a flow of inert gas into said refractory linedpipe preventing air from being carried within said inlet pipe and intothe reactor assembly 301. A pair of refractory lined preheater outletpipes 335, 337 connect the outlet ports 308, 314 of preheat reactor 303to the inlet ports of reactor 403. The preheater outlet pipes 335, 337include cycling slide valves for maintaining continuity of ore finesflow. The resulting cascading structure provides a flow path for orefines to travel downward in a gravity flow through the preheat reactor303 and to the reactor assembly 401 in series fashion, where the feederassembly 201, preheat reactor assembly 301, and the reactor assembly 401have been fixed in graduated, decreasing height to facilitate gravityflow of the iron ore fines. The preheater outlet pipes 335, 337 includecycling slide valves for maintenance of a constant solid flow from thepreheat reactor 303. Additionally, an inert gas source supplies a flowof inert gas into said refractory lined pipes preventing air from beingcarried within.

The Ore Preheat Reactor Process

Referring to FIG. 1, the dry iron ore (32) from the two ore feed systemspasses through pipes equipped with isolation valves into the ore preheatreactor 303. The function of the preheat reactor is to heat the ore toreaction temperature and to remove hydrated water and some sulfur andphosphorous from the ore. This is accomplished by fluidizing the ironore fines in an upflowing air stream (13) and burning natural gas (24)that is injected into the fluid bed. Since the temperature of the bed isabout 750° C., the natural gas burns upon contact with air. A slightexcess of air is provided. The combustion air is provided by acentrifugal air compressor 317 equipped with suction filters toeliminate dust and with water cooled intercoolers to remove the heat ofcompression. The air is compressed to about 13-14 kg/cm² with thecentrifugal air compressor 317, and is preheated to 700°-750° C. in thereformer heat recuperator system 319. The natural gas is injected by aseries of burners located around the reactor about 1 meter above thegrid. The air to gas ratio is maintained so that there is about 2% O₂ inthe flue gas (dry). A purge gas consisting of steam is injected to theburners to prevent plugging when natural gas flow is low.

The preheat reactor is constructed of a carbon steel shell and has adual layer internal lining of insulation and refractory. The reactorcontains a gas distribution grid in the lower part and a cyclone systemin the upper part. These components are constructed of a heat resistantalloy. The grid consists of a flat perforated circular plate that isslightly smaller in diameter than the inside of the reactor. The plateis sealed to the vessel shell by way of a vertical cylinder made of thinplate, and is supported in the center by vertical pipes. Small diametertubes are placed through the holes perforated in the flat plate and arewelded in place. The fluidizing air which enters through the bottom ofthe reactor is forced through the tubes, which provides an even air flowdistribution across the cross-sectional area of the reactor.

The cyclones consist of pairs of primary and secondary cyclones whichremove entrained iron ore fines from the combustion gases exiting thefluid bed. The fines removed by the cyclones are returned to the fluidbed. The gases (31) exit the cyclones through outlet pipes and passthrough a refractory lined reactor outlet pipe 321 to the quench and gascleanup assemblies 323, 326. The combustion gases have to be cooled andscrubbed of fines prior to being vented. The cooling is done by a waterquench assembly 323, although it is possible to cool the gas byproducing steam in an exchanger. After cooling, the gases are scrubbedin a venturi type scrubber 326, and are vented via pressure letdownvalves 327, 328 to a stack.

The preheat reactor 303 is connected to the first reducing reactor 403by two refractory lined pipes 335, 337 equipped with cycling slidevalves which maintain a constant solids flow to the reactor assembly401. A flow of inert gas is injected into the lines 335, 337 to preventair from being carried into the reactor assembly 401.

The Reducing Reactor Assembly

Referring to FIG. 1, The reducing reactor assembly 401 is comprised of aseries of three ore reducing reactors 403, 405, 407; a reactor orefeeder assembly 409; and, a reducing gas feeder assembly 411.

The three ore reducing reactors 403, 405, 407 are oriented in agraduated grade, series arrangement, where reactor 403 is fixed at ahighest grade level and is referred to as the uppermost reactor 403 andreactor 407 is fixed at a lowest grade level and is referred to as thelowermost reactor 407. Each of said three reducing reactors 403, 405,407 include two ore inlet ports 419, 421; two ore outlet ports 423, 425;a reducing gas intake port 427; a reducing gas exhaust port 429; avertical, upper reaction chamber 431, downwardly connected to a lower,narrower, vertical reaction chamber 433. The reducing gas intake port427 is located at the bottom of the lower reaction chamber 433 forreceiving fluidizing gas, and, the reducing gas exhaust port 429 islocated at the top of the upper reaction chamber 431 for passing thefluidizing gas out of the respective reactor. The respective ore outletports 423, 425 are located near the bottom of the lower reaction chamber433 for passing the reduced ore out of the respective reactor, and, therespective ore inlet ports 419, 421 are located at the top of the upperreaction chamber 431 for receiving ore fines; a cyclone separator (notshown) is located within the upper reaction chamber 431 and in front ofthe gas exhaust port 429, in order to separate entrained ore fines fromthe circulating fluidization gas before passing out of the respectivereactor; a recycling conduit (not shown) connects the material exhaustportion of the cyclone separator to the bottom of the lower reactionchamber 433 establishing a channel through which the de-entrained finesmay flow to rejoin the mainstream ore flow prior to passing through theore outlet ports 423, 425.

The cyclone separator comprises a pair of primary cyclones andexternally actuated valves, where the externally actuated valves sealoff the cyclones in the event said cyclones become plugged with iron orefines. By utilizing only primary versus a primary-secondary pair ofcyclones as in the preheater reactor the vessel height can be reduced by5 feet.

Each of said reactors comprises a carbon steel shell, and a dualinsulation and refractory layer internally lining said shell. Each ofthe reactors further include a gas distribution grid located across thecross-section of the lower part of the lower vessel 433, where the gridprovides a distribution path through which an upflowing stream ofreducing gas is forced to pass resulting in an evenly distributed,counter-current flow to that of the iron ore fines developing afluidized bed of said fines.

The gas distribution grid is formed of heat resistant alloy andcomprises a flat perforated circular plate that is slightly smaller indiameter than the inside of the reactor. The circular plate is sealed tosaid carbon steel shell by a vertical cylinder made of thin plate steeland supported centrally by vertical, small diameter tubes which jutthrough holes perforated in the circular plate and are welded in place.It is these tubes through which the reducing gas stream is forced toprovide an evenly distributed reducing gas flow across the crosssectional area of said reactor. In the case of reactor 403 and 405, thetubes are replaced with cones to prevent rapid plugging of the grid byreduced ore fines carried by the gas.

The reactors incorporate the same design features as the preheatreactor, except that they are larger in diameter and have only primarycyclones instead of primary-secondary sets. The cyclones are equippedwith externally actuated valves which allow the cyclones to be sealedoff if they plug up with iron ore fines.

The reactor ore feeder assembly 409 includes a fabric of linkingrefractory lined pipes extending from the preheat reactor assembly 301through the reactors of the reactor assembly 401 and to the briquettefeeder assembly 801. A pair of refractory lined, preheater ore outletpipes 335, 337 connect the preheater ore feed outlet ports 308, 314located near the bottom of said preheat reactor 303 to the ore inletports 419, 421 of the uppermost reactor 403. The ore inlet pipes 335,337 include cycling slide valves for maintaining constant solid flowfrom said preheat reactor 303 and into the reactor assembly 401.Additionally, an inert gas source supplies a flow of inert gas into saidrefractory lined pipe preventing air from being carried within saidinlet pipe and into the reactor assembly 401. A pair of refractory linedoutlet pipes 435, 437 connect the outlet ports of reactor 403 to theinlet ports of reactor 405; a pair of refractory lined outlet pipes 439,441 connect the outlet ports of reactor 405 to the inlet ports ofreactor 407; and, a pair of refractory lined outlet pipes 443, 445connect the outlet ports of reactor 407 to the inlet ports of thebriquetting assembly 801. The resulting structure of cascading reactorsand piping provides a flow path for ore fines to travel downward in agravity flow through each of the reactors and to the briquettingassembly 801 in series fashion, where each of said ore reactors has beenfixed in graduated, decreasing height from said uppermost reactor 403 tosaid lowermost reactor 407. Said refractory lined pipes 443, 445extending from the lowermost reactor 407 include cycling slide valvesfor maintenance of a constant solid flow from said lowermost reactor407. Additionally, an inert gas source supplies a flow of inert gas intosaid refractory lined pipes preventing air from being carried within.

The reducing gas feeder assembly 411 includes: 1) a pipe 447 connectingthe intake port of the lowermost reactor 407 to a reducing gas assembly701 supplying recycled and fresh pressurized reducing (hydrogen) gas; 2)a pipe 449 connecting the exhaust port of the lowermost reactor 407 tothe intake port of the reactor 405; 3) a pipe 451 connecting the exhaustport of the reactor 405 to the intake port of the uppermost reactor 403;4) a pipe 453 connecting the exhaust port of the uppermost reactor 403to a recycle gas assembly 601; and, a pipe 448 connecting an inlet portof reactor 407 to a supply for providing fine oxide powder forpreventing defluidization, small quantities of natural gas to maintaincarbon control, and small quantities of sulfur, if required to protectreducing gas heater tubes from metal dusting attack. Said reducing gasassembly 701 supplying a reduction agent.

The Reducing Reactor Process

Referring to FIG. 1, the function of the reducing reactors is to removeoxygen from the iron ore fines (33) in fluidized beds using a reducinggas (27) as the fluidizing medium. There are three fluid beds (33,34,35)in series. The ore fines flow downwards by gravity and the gas flowsupward between the reactors in a counter-current manner. Thiscounter-current contacting results in a higher utilization of thereducing gas as compared to a single or dual fluid bed system.

The iron ore fines increase in metallization or purity as they passdownward from reactor to reactor. The transfer between the reactors ismade by two external refractory lined pipes which connect the reactors.The transfer lines have slide valves to initiate solids flow onstart-up, but the valves are left open during normal operation. Theentrance to the transfer lines is located about 2 meters above the gasdistribution grid inside the reactor so that a dense phase fluidized bedexists above the grid. The ore fines fall into the transfer line byoverflow and pass to the next lower reactor by gravity. A pressure sealis maintained in the transfer line by a column of fluidized solids atthe solids exit from transfer line.

The reducing gas used to remove oxygen from the ore is of apre-specified composition and is pre-heated to about 850°-875° C. priorto entering the lowest reducing reactor. This is necessary since thereaction occurs much more rapidly at high temperature, and heat isrequired to sustain the endothermic reduction reaction. Highertemperature also makes the ore easier to briquette.

The pre-heated reducing gas passes through the grid of the bottomreactor 407 and reacts with the ore solids as it passes upwards throughthe fluid bed. The gas is cleaned of entrained solids in the cyclones,exits the reactor via a refractory lined pipe, and is passed on to thenext reactor 405. The gas distribution grids of the middle and upperreducing reactors are provided with inverted cones instead of tubes.This prevents rapid plugging of the grid by reduced ore fines carried bythe gas. The spent reducing gas (30) exiting the third reactor is senton to the recycle gas assembly 601.

In order to prevent the defluidization of the iron ore particles in thefluid bed, an additive, which consists of a fine oxide powder, is addedto the bottom reactor. The additive is metered into the reactor at arate sufficient to provide about 0.3% of the additive on the product. Asmall amount of natural gas is also injected into the bottom reactor tomaintain carbon control within range. Sulfur can also be added to thelowermost reducing reactor 407 to form a small amount of H₂ S ifrequired to protect the reducing gas heater tubes from metal dustingattack.

Gas purges are provided for instrumentation pressure taps and tomaintain blasting connections clean. All purges in the reactor circuituse dried process purge gas which comes from the spent reducing gasrecycle assembly 601. The carrier gas for the additive is also processpurge gas. By not using inert gas as purge, higher recycle rates arepermitted and less recycle gas is purged, which improves systemefficiency.

The reduced iron product (36) is transferred from the bottom reducingreactor 407 to the briquetter feed drum 805 through a pneumatic transferline. The solids withdrawal rate from the reactor is controlled by acycling slide valve at the reactor outlet, which results in asemi-pneumatic type of transport.

A quench drum 807 that is connected to the bottom reactor is providedfor use when the briquetters are out of service, and the reducingreactors are in operation. A cycling slide valve in the line allows oreto be dumped at a regulable rate. It is necessary to maintain a flow ofore through the reactors at all times, and the quench drum allows thisto be carried out even when the material can not be briquetted.

The Reducing Gas Preparation Assembly

Referring to FIG. 3, a fresh reducing gas (hydrogen) preparationassembly 501 produces hydrogen from natural gas; although other methodsof producing the reducing gas are compatible with the process. Thereducing gas preparation assembly 501 is comprised of a reformer 503fueled by natural gas supplied by a utility, a condensate knockout drumfor natural gas, a heat exchanger 515 for heating natural gas, anhydrogenation vessel 517, two desulfurization drums 519, 521, a steamdrum 523, a forced draft fan 561, a reformed gas cooling and shiftassembly, and, a reformed gas CO₂ removal assembly. The reformed gascooling and shift assembly includes a heat exchanger 535, a hightemperature shift 537, and heat exchangers 515, 539. The reformed gasCO₂ removal assembly includes a heat exchanger 541, absorption tower545, regeneration tower 549, a lean solution pump 555, and an air cooledheat exchanger 559.

The natural gas main 505 provides a path through the condensate knockoutdrum 506 and a compressor (not shown) for compressing the natural gas to25 kg/cm² (if necessary), and connects to a reformer fuel line 507 and areform gas line 509. The reformer fuel line 507 supplies natural gas tothe furnace of the reformer 503. The reform gas line 509 and a hydrogenrecycle line 511 connect to a mixture line 513; the natural gas andhydrogen being referred to as a mixture. The recycle line 511 injects asmall hydrogen stream into the natural gas for hydrogenation of anysulfur compounds.

The mixture line 513 provides a path through a heat exchanger 515, ahydrogenation vessel 517 containing a cobalt-molybdenum catalyst, and aseries of two desulfurization drums 519, 521 filled with zinc oxide. Theheat exchanger 515 heats said mixture to 370° C., where heat istransferred by cooling reformed gas exiting the reformer 503.

A boiler (steam drum) 523 provides a source of steam superheated to 500°C. through exchanger 524 and passed along a steam line 525 to feed intothe mixture line 513. The mixture line 513 then passes through a heatrecuperation section 527 of the reformer 503. The mixture line 513includes a heat exchanger 529 which is heated by combustion gases ventedthrough said heat recuperation section 527. The exchanger 524 is alsoheated through the venting combustion gases in the heat recuperationsection 527.

The reformer 503 includes nickel catalyst filled furnace tubes whichconnect to the mixture line 513 to provide a path for the mixture toflow through the furnace section 531 of the reformer. The furnace ofsaid reformer 503 includes a furnace box. Said furnace box includes tworows of vertically oriented reformer tubes; an insulated, airtight shelland burners. The burners provide the heat necessary to heat the gas andfor the endothermic reforming reaction. Said burners are located insidesaid insulated, airtight shell and utilize natural gas for fuel fromline 507. The nickel catalyst filled furnace tubes empty into a reformedgas line 533.

The reformed gas line 533 passes through a heat exchanger 535, a hightemperature shift reactor 537 including an iron-chrome catalyst, heatexchanger 515 for preheating natural and hydrogen gas mixture, a heatexchanger 539 for heating boiler feed water, a heat exchanger 541 forcooling the reformed gas and boiling a rich carbonate solution, and intoan absorption tower 545 containing a downflowing potassium carbonatesolution for absorbing most of the CO₂ from the reformed gas. Thepurified reformed gas exiting tower 545 is split by two lines, therecycle hydrogen line 511 and the hydrogen delivery line 547.

A regeneration tower 549 connects to said absorption tower 545,receiving carbonate solution including H₂ O and CO₂ from tower 545through line 551 and returning stripped carbonate solution to said tower545 along line 553. Within the regeneration tower 549, carbonatesolution is flashed at atmospheric pressure at the top of theregeneration tower 549 and boiled through said heat exchanger 541 torelease CO₂ and H₂ O. The stripped carbonate solution is pumped backtowards the top of tower 545 through pump 555 and a portion of thecarbonate solution is diverted through line 557 and an air cooled heatexchanger 559.

A forced draft fan 561 including suction filters connects to said heatrecuperation section 527 through an exhaust line. The forced draft fanincreases flow of rate of the exiting combustion gases across heatexchangers 563, 565, 567, 569, 571, 524, 529 located in the heatrecuperation section and develops a more even heat exchange across saidheat recuperation section. Heat exchanger 563 is utilized to heatcombustion air which is delivered along line 573 by a forced air fan 575to the furnace in the furnace section 531. Heat exchangers 565 and 567are utilized to boil boiler water which is diverted from line 577 alongline 579 and returned to the boiler 523. The balance of boiler waterfrom line 577 is directed through heat exchanger 535 along line 581 andback to the boiler 523. Heat exchangers 569 and 571 heat combustion airfor the preheat reactor 303 and represent the heat exchanger 319previously discussed and referred to in FIG. 1. After passing througheach of the respective heat exchangers, the exiting combustion gases arethen exhausted through stacks or utilized as an inert gas source invarious locales in the plant.

The Process for Preparing Reducing Gas

Referring to FIG. 3, the process is based upon the use of a natural gasfeed (1) to produce the reducing gas, although other methods ofproducing the gas are compatible with the process.

Natural gas from the supplier is passed through a condensate knockoutdrum, and is compressed to 25 kg/cm², if required. A small recyclestream of hydrogen (23) is added to the gas for hydrogenation of sulfurcompounds. This mixture is preheated to 370 degrees C. in a heatexchanger 515, where heat is transferred by cooling the reformer gas(9). The preheated gas (2) is sent to a cobalt-molybdenum catalystfilled vessel 517 where the catalyst promotes the reaction of non-H₂ Scomponents with H₂ to form H₂ S, which can then be removed by ZnO. Thegas passes through two ZnO filled vessels 519, 521 connected in series;and the H₂ S contained in the natural gas is removed by reaction withthe ZnO. The reaction is not reversible, and the vessels have to berefilled periodically with ZnO.

Steam (3) required to combine with the desulfurized natural gas issuperheated to 500 degrees C. into the heat recuperation section 527.The desulfurized natural gas is combined with said superheated steam ina ratio of 3.3 moles of steam per mole of natural gas. The combinedstream (5) is then heated to 600° C. (6) in the heat recuperationsection 527 of the reformer 503 and is introduced into catalyst filledfurnace tubes inside the furnace section 531. The gases are heated to825° C. as they pass down the tubes and the reforming reaction iscatalyzed by the nickel containing reformer catalyst to reachpre-specified gas composition levels (7).

The burners of the reformer furnace box use natural gas (18) to providethe heat necessary to heat the gas and for the endothermic reformingreaction. No purge gas is burnt in the reformer.

Combustion air for the burners is provided by a forced draft fan 575located at grade. The air from the fan is passed through the heatrecuperation section 527 of the reformer where it is preheated to about300° C. with the reformer combustion gases. By preheating combustion airin the reformer heat recuperation section 527, less reformer fuel (18)is required.

The forced draft fan 575 is equipped with suction filters to prevent theentrance of dust into the furnace. Dust pickup through the burners hasbeen a serious problem with natural draft furnaces due to the quantityof dust present from ore and product handling. In this case, the dust iscarried into the heat recuperation section 527 from the furnace section531 where it plugs the fins of the finned tubes, causing a substantialloss of heat transfer capacity.

Referring to FIG. 3, the combustion gases from the reformer burners arepulled through a heat recuperation system 527 which reduces thetemperature of the combustion gases (14) from 970° to about 135° C. bypreheating feed streams for the reformer, preheat reactor air, andcombustion air for the reformer burners. The combustion gases are movedby an induced draft fan 561 which exhausts the gases into a stack 583that is shared with the reducing gas preheat furnace 711. Use of aninduced draft fan 561 provides more precise draft control than ispossible with natural draft furnaces. As the combustion gases pass fromthe reformer box to the induced draft fan, they exchange heat with thefollowing process streams: 1. Preheat reactor air (13) (2d exchanger571); 2. Steam and natural gas feed (5) (exchanger 529); 3. Steam (4)(superheat exchanger 524); 4. Preheat reactor air (1st exchanger 569);5. Boiler feed water (Steam generation exchangers 565, 567); and, 6.Reformer combustion air (exchanger 563).

The combustion air and induced draft fans 575, 561 for the reformer andcombustion air fans 745, 723 for the reducing gas furnace 711 areequipped with two electric motors using disengaging clutches. One motorwill be connected to the plant emergency generator (not shown). Thus,both furnaces will remain online at normal capacity during a powerfailure.

The reformer 503 is operated at close to a stoichiometric combustionmixture of air (19) and natural gas (18) using an O₂ analyzer whichcontrols the air rate from the combustion air fan 575 automatically. Asa result, the O₂ level in the combustion gas (14) is low enough to allowthe gas to be used as inert gas in the areas where inert blankets mustbe maintained. Part of the combustion gas from the induced draft fan 561is sent to the utilities area for use as inert gas.

The reformed gas mixture (7) leaving the reformer tubes is cooled from825° C. to 370° C. in an exchanger 535 which generates 25 kg/cm² steam.The steam is delivered to the boiler 523 and used as the feed to thereformer 503 along with steam produced in the heat recuperation section527. The cooled reformed gas (8) is passed through a high temperatureshift (HTS) reactor 537 filled with an iron-chrome catalyst whichfurther reacts the CO remaining in the reformed gas mixture with H₂ O toproduce more H₂. The reaction is exothermic, which increases the exitgas temperature to 430° C.

The product gas (9) from the HTS reactor 537 is cooled to about 360° C.in an exchanger 515 using incoming natural gas. The reformed gases (10)exiting the natural gas preheat exchanger 515 pass through a secondexchanger 539 and are cooled to about 180° C. by heating boiler feedwater (20) for the reformer 503.

The reforming reaction which occurs in the reformer 503 and shiftreactor 537 produces CO₂. Since an excess of H₂ O is required for thereforming reaction, some H₂ O is still contained in the reformed gas.Both of these are oxidizing gases in the reactor system and must belargely eliminated from the reformed gas (11) in order that it beeffective as a reducing gas. By removing the CO₂ from the reformed gasto a low content (under 0.5%), the CO₂ in the total reducing gas (27)can be maintained at the target value of about 3.5%, even at the higherrecycle ratio used in the improved design.

The reformed gas exiting the BFW preheater exchanger 539 at about 180°C. passes through a CO₂ removal system which consists of a hot carbonateacid gas treating unit 543. The reformed gas (11) first enters anexchanger 541 where it reboils rich carbonate solution. It then passesthrough an absorption tower 545 where the gas is contacted by adownflowing potassium carbonate solution which absorbs most of the CO₂from the reformed gas. Water content of the reformed gas is also reducedby condensation. The lean carbonate solution is introduced to theabsorption tower 545 at two points, which permits CO₂ removal to under0.5% in the purified reformed gas (25).

The rich carbonate solution, which contains CO₂ and H₂ O removed fromthe reformed gas (11), is regenerated in a regeneration tower 549 byflashing the solution (17) to essentially atmospheric pressure at thetop of the tower 549, and stripping the carbonate solution of CO₂ and H₂O by means of a reboiler (exchanger 541) at the bottom of the column.The regenerated, or lean, solution is pumped out of the bottom of theregeneration tower 549 and back to the absorption tower 545. Part of theregenerated solution leaving the pump 555 is passed through an aircooled exchanger 559 to cool it.

The CO₂ and H₂ O (17) liberated from the rich solution in theregeneration tower 549 is vented from the top of the regeneration tower549. Both these components can be recuperated if desired. The reformedgas (25) exiting the CO₂ removal system will contain about 3.5% H₂ O and0.5% CO₂.

The Recycle Gas System

Referring to FIG. 1, the recycle gas assembly 601 is comprised of awater cooled quench tower 603, or alternatively a waste heat boiler,which receives spent reducing gas from the reactor assembly 401 throughpipe 453; a venturi scrubber 604; a line 605 which carries the cooledspent reducing gas from said quench tower 603 and through said venturiscrubber 604; a centrifugal compressor 615; a reducing gas preheater711; an air forced draft blower 723; and, an induced draft fan 645. Line605 is bled by lines 607,609 delivering a small stream of spent reducinggas along line 607 for burning in a reducing gas preheater 711 in thereducing gas supply assembly 701 and a small stream of gas along line609 for use as a reactor purge gas. Line 607 is further fed by a naturalgas supply through line 613. Line 609, prior to delivery in the reactorassembly 401, passes through a drier and compressor for drying the purgegas and compressing to 20 kg/cm². Line 605 passes through a compressor615 and then combines with reformed gas delivered along line 547 intoline 717. Line 717 then passes through the reducing gas preheater 711where line 717 connects with line 447.

The reducing gas preheater 711 includes a heat recuperation section 719and a furnace section 721. The furnace in the furnace section 721 isfueled by line 607 and preheated combustion air is supplied through anair compressor 723 along line 725. In order to preheat the combustionair, line 725 passes through the heat recuperation section 719 andincludes a heat exchanger portion 727. The flue gases exit the heatrecuperation section 719 along line 729. Line 729 passes through aninduced draft fan 745 and into a stack 583, where the gases areexhausted into the atmosphere.

The reducing gas preheater furnace 711 is of a similar construction tothe reformer. It has a radiant box with vertical alloy tubes, a heatrecuperation section 719, a combustion air forced draft blower 723, andan induced draft fan 745 which exhausts common stack 583. The use of acombustion air fan equipped with a filter eliminates the problem of dustbuildup on the heat recuperator tubes.

The Process for Recycling and Delivering Reducing Gas

Again referring to FIG. 1, the spent reducing gas (30) exiting the topreducing reactor still contains a substantial amount of H₂, but due tothe high water content resulting from the reduction reaction, thereducing power is inadequate to use this gas in the process. This watermust be removed by cooling in a water cooled quench tower 603. Also, thegas has to be scrubbed in a venturi scrubber 604 so that it can becompressed to return to the reactor system.

The hot spentreducing gas (30) can be cooled by generating steam in awaste heat boiler, or by direct quench in a water cooled tower 603. Thisdesign utilizes a water quench tower 603 to cool the gas, sincemechanical reliability of the exchanger is not proven. The use of awaste heat boiler also depends upon the steam requirements of thedesign.

The cooled gas is scrubbed in a venturi scrubber 604 after leaving thequench tower 603 and a small amount of gas is removed and burnt in thereducing gas preheater 711 to prevent inert gas build-up in the circuit.Due to the elimination of N₂ purges in the reactors and the productionof low CO₂ content (<0.5%) reformed gas, the quantity of reducing gasburnt is small. This improves the efficiency of the process since lessreducing gas is used as fuel gas. Some of the recycle gas is removed,dried, and compressed to about 20 kg/cm² for use in the reactor purges.

The cooled and scrubbed recycle gas is compressed in a centrifugalcompressor 615 and is combined with the product gas coming from the CO₂removal system. A ratio of 3.5 parts recycle gas to 1 part product gas(also called makeup gas (25)) is used. A small amount of H₂ S is addedto the reducing gas to prevent metal dusting of the reducing gaspreheater 711, if sulfur is not being added directly to the reactors.The combined gas stream (called total reducing gas (27)) is passedthrough a reducing gas preheater 711 and is heated to 850° to 875° C.The heated gas then passes through a refractory lined pipe to the bottomreducing reactor 407.

The streams which are heated in the heat recuperation section 719 arethe total reducing gas (27) and the combustion air. The reducing gas isheated to about 500° C. in the recuperation section and to 875° C. inthe radiant box. The amount of preheat of the combustion air dependsupon the furnace design. The reducing gas preheater combustion gases arecooled to about 135° C. in the heat recuperation section 719.

The Briquetting Assembly

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, The briquetting assembly 801 is comprised ofa pipe 803 which is fed reduced fines from line 445; an atmosphericstorage drum 805 where pipe 803 deposits its cargo; three briquetterfeed lines 811, 813, 815; three briquetting machines 817; three rotatingtrommels 819; a hot screener 823; a water filled tank 829; a productconveyor 833; a water quench tank 837; a fines and chips conveyor 841;and, a bucket conveyor 847. An alternate route for fines from thereactor assembly 401 is provided along line 443 which deposits the finesinto a quench tank 807. Said storage drum 805 may in turn dump itscontents into the quench tank 807 through line 809 or send its contentsalong lines 811, 813, 815 to three briquetting machines, respectively,(where only one briquetter 817 is shown for clarity). Lines 811, 813,815 include cycling slide values for metering the flow of fines to thebriquetters.

A small feed drum is located on top of each of the briquetters 817 wherethe lines 811, 813, 815 deposit their respective loads. A helical feedscrew forces fines between two counter-rotating rolls equipped withbriquette shaped molds. One roll is fixed in place, while the other iscompressible against the fixed roll with hydraulic cylinders.

A rotating trommel 819 is located under the briquetters 817 for breakingstrings of briquettes into individual units. A pipe 821 connects theexit port of the trommel 819 to the entry of a hot screener 823 locatedbeneath the trommel. The screener 823 includes two screens 825, 827 forseparating briquettes, chips, and fines. Screen 825 is a 1/2" screen andseparates the briquettes from the fines and chips. The briquettes andlarge chips are able to slide and roll off the screen 823 and into aquench tank 829 including a discharge conveyor 831. The dischargeconveyor 831 provides a path from the quench tank 829 and to a productconveyor 833. The product conveyor 833 provides a path to a briquettestorage pile 835.

Screen 827 is located beneath screen 825 for receipt of smaller chipsand fines and is comprised of a 1/2" grating. Of the smaller chips andfines, the larger chips are able to slide off the screen 827 and into aquench tank 837 including a discharge conveyor 839. The dischargeconveyor 839 provides a path from the quench tank 837 and to a productconveyor 841. The product conveyor 841 provides a path to a chip storagepile 843. Smaller chips and fines fall through screen 827 where aconveyor 845 provides a path to a bucket conveyor 847. The bucketconveyor provides a path to the storage drum 805.

The entire briquetting assembly 801 through to the quench tanks 829, 837is enclosed and maintainable under a positive pressure. Inert gas may befunneled into the briquetting assembly atmosphere in order to reducepotential oxidation.

The Process for Briquetting

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, the hot reduced iron ore fines (36) must bebriquetted in order to make a product that is resistant to reoxidationin storage and that can be easily handled and charged in steelmakingoperations. The hot, reduced ore fines are transported from the bottomreducing reactor 407 to an atmospheric storage drum 805 which feeds thethree briquetting machines 817.

The drum 805 is located directly above the lowest reducing reactor 407which allows the briquetting machines 817 to be incorporated into thereactor structure, resulting in a more compact plant layout. The threebriquetting machines 817 are designed so that each can handle slightlymore than half the design plant capacity, which allows one machine to beshut down for maintenance at all times.

The reduced fines are metered from the storage drum 805 into thebriquetting machines 817 through three feed lines 811, 813, 815 whicheach have a cycling slide valve to maintain flow control to therespective briquetting machines 817. The fines enter a small feed drumon top of the briquetting machine, and are forced between twocounter-rotating rolls by a helical feed screw. The rolls are equippedwith briquette shaped molds which compress the fines into briquettes.The compaction is achieved by a combination of the high pressure betweenthe rolls and the high temperature of the fines, which makes them morecompressible. The pressure is maintained by means of hydraulic cylindersthat exert force against one of the two rolls. One roll is fixed and theother is allowed to move, which prevents roll breakage should a piece ofmetal pass through the machine.

The briquettes exit the machine 817 in a single string and are separatedinto individual briquettes in a rotating trommel 819. The individualbriquettes, and fines and chips resulting from the trommel operation,leave the trommel in a combined stream and are separated in a hotscreener 823 located below the trommels 819.

The briquetting machines 817 and trommels 819 are oriented so that thetrommel discharges are in close proximity. The allows the briquettes(37) and fines/chips (38) to be transported to the screener 823 viametallic pipes which avoids the use of vibrating conveyors.

The hot screener 823 separates the briquettes from the fines and chipson two screens 825, 827. First, the product briquettes (37) areseparated off on a 1/2" screen 825 and are quenched in a water filledtank 829 to 100 degrees C. The briquettes are discharged into a productconveyor 833 where they are dried by the heat remaining in thebriquette.

The fines and chips passing through the 1/2" screen 825 are furtherseparated on a 1/4" screen 827. The chips between 1/2" and 1/4" removedon the screen are quenched in a water quench tank 837 and are dischargedin a pile 843 by conveyor 841. This material is suitable for sale as abyproduct. The fine fraction under 1/4" passing through the screen 827is recycled to the briquetters 817 via a bucket conveyor 847. The chipsquench tank 837 is used to quench fines when they are not beingrecycled.

The entire briquetter system from the briquetter enclosure to the quenchtanks 829, 837 is blanketed with inert gas under a slightly positivepressure. The inert gas has been treated to remove most of the CO₂ inorder to reduce the oxidation potential of the gas.

Line 443 equipped with a cycling slide valve is provided between thebriquetter feed drum 805 and the reactor quench drum 807 in order toallow fines to be dumped when the briquetters are starting up orshutting down.

The Utilities Assembly (System) and Process

The utilities assembly is comprised of a boiler feed water treatingassembly; a machinery cooling water assembly; a process cooling waterassembly; a package water assembly; a chilled water assembly; an inertgas cleanup and compression assembly; a forced air assembly; and, abackup electricity assembly.

In the boiler feed water treating assembly, boiler feed water isreceived from the industrial water main and is treated in sand andcarbon filters prior to passing through deionizers. After thedeionizers, the water is combined with the returning condensate from thegenerator steam turbine condenser and pumped to a deaerator where it isheated to 110° C. with low pressure steam to drive off 0₂. The water canbe further treated with hydrazine if required. The deaerator has a 1/2hour inventory to allow operation during short term power failures.

In the machinery cooling water assembly, machinery cooling water is usedto cool machinery in the process and to provide coolant in heatexchangers. The water is pumped to the users from the CCW sump andreturns at a temperature of about 70° C. The water is cooled in a closeheat exchange system to avoid contamination of the water by dust.

In the process cooling water assembly, process cooling water is requiredfor cooling process gas streams and for scrubbing dust from process gasstreams and from gases pulled through the dust collectors. The waterreturning from the various users goes to two primary and one secondarysettling ponds where fine particles settle out, aided by a flocculant.The water is also cooled to about 60° C. in the ponds. Two ponds areprovided so that they can be cleaned on the run. Cooled water from theponds is pumped to an evaporative type cooling tower where the water iscooled to about 30° C. Water is pumped from the sump to the users.

In the package water assembly, a package boiler is provided for drivingthe steam turbine generator, for plant steam, and for fluidization steamfor the preheat reactor during a power outage. The boiler can alsoprovide inert gas from the flue instead of using flue gas from thereformer if required.

In the chilled water assembly, a refrigerant type water chiller isprovided to chill a small amount of cooling water to about 10° C. Thischilled water is required for drying purge gas and instrument air.

In the inert gas cleanup and compression assembly, combustion gas fromthe reformer is cooled and dried using cooling water. The gas iscompressed in one of two compressor lines to about 20 kg/cm² and ispassed through a small column where it is contacted with lean potassiumcarbonate solution. The C0₂ content is reduced from about 13% to under1%. The gas is then dried using chilled cooling water and sent on to thebriquetting and reactor area for use in purges and to blanket thebriquetting machines. A small amount of inert gas is compressed to 100kg/cm² and stored in tanks to be used for blasting plugged purges.

In the forced air assembly, instrument and utility air is provided byone of two electric motor driven compressors. The instrument air isdried using chilled water and dessicant. The instrument air is backed upby the 100 kg/cm² inert gas storage tanks via a pressure letdown valve.

In the backup electricity assembly, a condensing steam turbine drivenelectric generator provides sufficient power during power failures forthe services listed below. Each of the pumps and compressors in the listhas two 100% capacity units: one with electric motor drive hooked to themain supply and the other electric motor hooked to the generator. Thefans are single units with two electric motor drives. The generator isin continuous service and provides power or backup power to thefollowing: 1. Emergency plant lighting; 2. UPS backup; 3. Fire waterpump; 4. One inert gas compressor; 5. One air compressor; 6. One BFWtreating pump; 7. One BFW feed pump; 8. One machinery cooling waterpump; 9. One process cooling water pump; 10. All four fans on thefurnaces; and, 11. One BFW circulation pump (reformer).

The condensate from the condensing turbine is returned to the boilerfeed water treating area for reuse.

Optionally, a gas turbine generator with steam generation by the exhaustgas can be used in place of the boiler with steam turbine drivenelectric generator.

STATE TABLES

The following represents a compilation of the states of the various flowgroups throughout the plant system. Numerals in parentheses () are usedto identify flow group, state, and makeup at each location throughoutthe plant.

    __________________________________________________________________________             (1)     (2)                     (5)    (6)                                    COLD    PREHEATED                                                                             (3)      (4)    COLD   HOT   (7)                              NATURAL NATURAL SATURATED                                                                              SUPERHTD                                                                             STM/GAS                                                                              STM/GAS                                                                             REFORMED                CONDITION                                                                              GAS FEED                                                                              GAS     STEAM    STEAM  MIXTURE                                                                              MIXTURE                                                                             GAS                     __________________________________________________________________________    TEMP, DEG C.                                                                           35      370     235      500    460    600   825                     PRES, KG/CM2                                                                           23.5    22      22.5     22     22     21.8  19.8                    COMPONENT                                                                     H2       0       2       0        0      .46    .46   44.28                   CO       0       .12     0        0      .03    .03   8.19                    H2O(V)   0       0       0        0      77.17  77.17 37.68                   CO2      8.06    7.88    0        0      1.8    1.8   6.6                     CH4      83.2    81.41   0        0      18.58  18.58 3.24                    C2H6     7.52    7.34    0        0      1.68   1.68  0                       C3H8     .83     .81     0        0      .18    .18   0                       C4H10+   .35     .34     0        0      .08    .08   0                       N2       .04     .09     0        0      .01    .01   .02                     O2       0       0       0        0      0      0     0                       H2O(L)   0       0       100      100    0      0     0                       KGMOL/HR 495.87  507.27  1715.02  1715.02                                                                              2222.28                                                                              2222.28                                                                             3040.16                 SM3/HR   11107.38                                                                              11362.85                                                                              38416.42 38416.42                                                                             49779.15                                                                             49779.15                                                                            68099.62                __________________________________________________________________________             (8)     (9)     (10)    (11)     (12)   (13)    (14)                          REFORMED                                                                              REFORMED                                                                              REFORMED                                                                              REFORMED AIR FROM                                                                             HOT AIR GAS OUT                       GAS TO  GAS FROM                                                                              GAS FROM                                                                              GAS FROM MAIN AIR                                                                             FOR PREHT                                                                             RADIANT              CONDITION                                                                              SHIFT   SHIFT   NG HCHNGR                                                                             BFW HCHNGR                                                                             COMPRSSR                                                                             REACTOR SECTION              __________________________________________________________________________    TEMP, DEG C.                                                                           370     430     360     182      150    760     970                  PRES, KG/CM2                                                                           19.5    19.1    18.6    18.3     12.5   12      0                    COMPONENT                                                                     H2       44.28   49.96   49.96   49.96    0      0       0                    CO       8.19    2.5     2.5     2.5      0      0       0                    H2O(V)   37.68   31.99   31.99   31.99    .5     .5      17.29                CO2      6.6     12.28   12.28   12.28    0      0       9.56                 CH4      3.24    3.24    3.24    3.24     0      0       0                    C2H6     0       0       0       0        0      0       0                    C3H8     0       0       0       0        0      0       0                    C4H10+   0       0       0       0        0      0       0                    N2       .02     .02     .02     .02      78.5   78.5    71.44                O2       0       0       0       0        21     21      1.71                 H2O(L)   0       0       0       0        0      0       0                    KGMOL/HR 3040.16 3040.16 3040.16 3040.16  948.69 948.69  2473.4               SM3/HR   68099.62                                                                              68099.62                                                                              68099.62                                                                              68099.62 21250.66                                                                             21250.66                                                                              55404.15             __________________________________________________________________________             (15)     (16)    (17)       (18)     (19)   (20)                              REFORMER PRODUCT GAS TO VENT                                                                              BURNER   BURNER TREATED BFW              CONDITION                                                                              FLUE GAS HYDROGEN                                                                              FROM CO2 REMVL                                                                           NATURAL GAS                                                                            AIR    TO                       __________________________________________________________________________                                                         PROCESS                  TEMP, DEG C.                                                                           135      87      100        30       295    100                      PRES, KG/CM2                                                                           0        18      0          1.5      0.5    29                       COMPONENT                                                                     H2       0        86.07   0          0        0      0                        CO       0        4.31    0          0        0      0                        H2O(V)   17.29    3.5     71.42      0        .5     0                        CO2      9.56     .5      28.58      8.06     0      0                        CH4      0        5.59    0          83.2     0      0                        C2H6     0        0       0          7.52     0      0                        C3H8     0        0       0          .83      0      0                        C4H10+   0        0       0          .35      0      0                        N2       71.44    .03     0          .04      78.5   0                        O2       1.71     0       0          0        21     0                        H2O(L)   0        0       0          0        0      100                      KGMOL/HR 2473.4   1725    1275.47    214.5    2247.75                                                                              1800.77                  SM3/HR   55404.15 38640   28570.53   4804.8   50349.5                                                                              40337.27                 __________________________________________________________________________                                           (24)                                            (21)       (22)     (23)      NAT GAS FOR  (25)                      CONDITION                                                                              HEATED BFW BLOWDWN  H2 RECYCLE                                                                              PREHEAT REACTOR                                                                            MAKEUP                    __________________________________________________________________________                                                        GAS                       TEMP, DEG C.                                                                           235        235      87        30           89                        PRES, KG/CM2                                                                           28.5       28       18        25           17.1                      COMPONENT                                                                     H2       0          0        86.07     0            86.07                     CO       0          0        4.31      0            4.31                      H2O(V)   0          0        3.5       0            3.5                       CO2      0          0        0.5       8.06         .5                        CH4      0          0        5.59      83.2         5.59                      C2H6     0          0        0         7.52         0                         C3H8     0          0        0         .83          0                         C4H10+   0          0        0         .35          0                         N2       0          0        .03       .04          .03                       O2       0          0        0         0            0                         H2O(L)   100        100      0         0            0                         KGMOL/HR 1800.77    85.75    39.68     90.85        1725                      SM3/HR   40337.27   1920.82  888.83    2035.04      38640                     __________________________________________________________________________                      (27)   (28)       (29)       (30)     (31)                              (26)  TOTAL  GAS EXITING                                                      RECYCLE                                                                             REDUCING                                                                             BOTTOM REDUC-                                                                            MIDDLE REDUC-                                                                            TOP REDUC-                                                                             PREHEAT               CONDITION   GAS   GAS    ING REACTOR                                                                              ING REACTOR                                                                              ING REACTOR                                                                            REACTOR               __________________________________________________________________________    TEMP, DEG C.                                                                              95    834    765        720        690      750                   PRES, KG/CM2                                                                              16.0  15.6   11.9       11.4       10.9     10.5                  COMPONENT                                                                     H2          49.81 57.72  52.49      43.2       39.21    0                     CO          8     7.14   8.54       7.85       6.3      0                     H2O(V)      .5    1.5    8.47       16.99      21.7     30.75                 CO2         4.27  3.42   1.49       1.3        3.36     8                     CH4         32.89 26.72  25.49      27.05      25.88    0                     C2H6        0     0      0          0          0        0                     C3H8        0     0      0          0          0        0                     C4H10+      0     0      0          0          0        0                     N2          4.53  3.51   3.52       3.61       3.56     59.75                 O2          0     0      0          0          0        1.5                   H2O(L)      0     0      0          0          0        0                     KGMOL/HR    6000  7750   7758       7630       7774     1254                  SM3/HR      134400                                                                              173608 173779     170912     174138   28090                 ENTRAINMENT, T/H         1.233      1.233      1.233    .482                  __________________________________________________________________________                                              (34)   (35)   (36)                                                     (33)   FROM   FROM   FROM                                                 (32)                                                                              FROM   TOP    MIDDLE BOTTOM                                               ORE PREHEAT                                                                              REDUCING                                                                             REDUCING                                                                             REDUCING                                    COMPONENT                                                                              FEED                                                                              REACTOR                                                                              REACTOR                                                                              REACTOR                                                                              REACTOR               __________________________________________________________________________                          Fet      65.89                                                                             68.58  77.49  87.53  94.05                                       Fe2O3    93.94                                                                             98.05  0      0      0                                           Fe3O4    0   0      0      0      0                                           FeO      0   0      91.6   45.04  9.67                                        Fe       0   0      6.29   52.52  86.53                                       Gangue   1.84                                                                              1.91   1.94   2.16   2.16                                        Carbon   0   0      .08    .07    1.38                                        MgO      .02 .04    .09    .21    .25                                         Free H2O .1  0      0      0      0                                           Bound H2O                                                                              4   0      0      0      0                                           Metallization                                                                          0   0      8.11   60     92                                          Flow Rate, T/H                                                                         90  85.75  76.05  67.41  61.5                  __________________________________________________________________________                                           (38)      (39)   (40)                                                  (37)   CHIPS AND RAW IRON                                                                             FROM                                         COMPONENT                                                                              PRODUCT                                                                              OTHER LOSSES                                                                            ORE    ORE                   __________________________________________________________________________                                                            DRIER                                        TEMP, DEG C.              30     105                                          PRES, KG/CM2              0      0                                            Fet      94.05  94.05     62.06  65.89                                        Fe2O3    0      0         88.48  93.94                                        Fe3O4    0      0         0      0                                            FeO      9.67   9.67      0      0                                            Fe       86.53  86.53     0      0                                            Gangue   2.16   2.16      1.73   1.74                                         Carbon   1.38   1.38      0      0                                            MgO      .25    .25       .02    .02                                          Free H2O 0      0         6      .12..                                        Bound H2O                                                                              0      0         3.77   4                                            Metallization                                                                          92     92                                                            Flow Rate, T/H                                                                         60     1.5       96.1   90                    __________________________________________________________________________                                       (41)        (42)                                                                             (43)                                          CONDITION        NATURAL GAS GAS                                                                           GAS                                                                              AIR GAS                                                                             FLUE                  __________________________________________________________________________                                                            GAS                                     TEMP, DEG C.     30          30 105                                           PRES, KG/CM2     1.5         .5 -.0005                                        COMPONENT                                                                     CH4              83.07       0  0                                             C2H6             7.76        0  0                                             C3H8             .53         0  0                                             C4H10+           .29         0  0                                             N2               0           78.5                                                                             33.9                                          O2               0           21 .83                                           CO2              8.35        0  4.58                                          H2O(V)           0           .5 60.69                                         KGMOL/HR         25.05       259.6                                                                            600.8                                         ENTRAINED SOLIDS KG/HR          420                         __________________________________________________________________________

What is claimed is:
 1. In a processing plant for reducing wet iron orefines under 1/2" including a reactor assembly, a preheat reactorassembly, and, an ore feed assembly with an ore feed conduit means fortransferring iron ore to said reactor assembly, said preheat reactorassembly comprising:a preheat reactor; a quench and gas cleanup system;an airstream source means for providing an airstream; a natural gassource means for providing natural gas; said preheat reactor including:areactor vessel including an upper cavity portion and a lower cavityportion; ore inlet port means for connecting said upper cavity portionto the ore feed conduit means; gaseous exhaust port means for connectingsaid upper cavity portion to said quench and gas cleanup system; oreoutlet port means for providing an exit for ore fines from said lowercavity portion and out of said preheat reactor; air intake port meansconnecting said lower cavity portion to said airstream source means andfacilitating the development of an airstream upward from the lowercavity portion to the upper cavity portion and out of the gaseousexhaust port means;said airstream passing through falling iron ore finesand developing a fluidized bed of iron ore fines within said reactorvessel; said air intake port means being located below said ore outletport means; natural gas injection means for injecting natural gas intosaid airstream and for igniting said natural gas in said airstream;saidnatural gas injection means including natural gas intake port meansconnecting said lower cavity portion to said natural gas source means;and, combustion air means for providing combustion air and mixingcombustion air with said natural gas to facilitate combustion, saidmixture being referred to as flue gas.
 2. The preheat reactor assemblyas recited in claim 1, said preheat reactor assembly includingairstreamdistribution means for developing an evenly distributed, upflowingairstream across the cross-section of said reactor vessel; saidairstream distribution means being located between the air intake portmeans and the ore outlet port means in the lower cavity portion.
 3. Thepreheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 1, said airstreamdistribution means includinga gas distribution grid.
 4. The preheatreactor assembly as recited in claim 1, said airstream distributionmeans comprisinga flat perforated circular plate; a vertical cylindercomprising thin plate steel; and, multiple vertical, small diametertubes;the outside diameter of said vertical cylinder in abuttingrelation with the inside diameter of said reactor vessel; said verticalcylinder being seated in the bottom of said lower cavity portion andhaving an upward facing portion; said flat perforated circular platebeing slightly smaller in diameter than the inside diameter of saidreactor vessel; said flat perforated circular plate being fixed to saidupward facing portion of the vertical cylinder; said vertical, smalldiameter tubes jutting through perforations in said flat perforatedcircular plate and being fixed to said flat perforated circular plate;said flat perforated circular plate being supported centrally by saidvertical, small diameter tubes; said airstream being forced into anddirected upward through said vertical, small diameter tubes.
 5. Thepreheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 4, said flat perforatedcircular plate havingan evenly distributed series of perforations acrossits cross sectional area producing an evenly distributed upward air flowacross the cross sectional area of said preheat reactor as flue gas isdelivered into said lower cavity portion and forced through saidvertical, small diameter tubes.
 6. The preheat reactor assembly asrecited in claim 1, said preheat reactor assembly includingore and gasseparating means for separating entrained ore fines from gases exitingsaid gaseous exhaust port means and returning de-entrained ore fines tothe mainstream flow of iron ore fines prior to said ore outlet portmeans;said ore and gas separating means being located within said uppercavity portion and in front of said gaseous exhaust port means.
 7. Thepreheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 6, said ore and gasseparating means includingpairs of primary and secondary cyclones. 8.The preheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 7, said cyclonesincludingexternally actuated valve means for sealing off the cyclones inthe event said cyclones become plugged with iron ore fines.
 9. Thepreheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 1, said ore outlet portmeans includinga refractory lined ore pipe;said refractory lined pipeincluding cycling slide valve means for maintaining constant solids flowfrom said preheat reactor; said refractory lined ore pipe connecting toa subsequent stage of the reactor assembly.
 10. The preheat reactorassembly as recited in claim 9, said preheat reactor assemblyincludinginert gas source means for supplying a flow of inert gas intosaid refractory lined ore pipe and into the preheat reactor preventingair from being carried to a subsequent stage of the reactor assembly.11. The preheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 1, said gaseousexhaust port means including multiple gas outlet pipes and a refractorylined gas outlet pipe;said multiple gas outlet pipes connecting to saidrefractory lined gas outlet pipe; said refractory lined gas outlet pipeconnecting to said quench and gas cleanup system.
 12. The preheatreactor assembly as recited in claim 11, said ore and gas separatingmeans including cyclones;said cyclones being positioned in front of saidmultiple gas outlet pipes.
 13. The preheat reactor assembly as recitedin claim 1, said quench and gas cleanup system includinggas coolingmeans for cooling exiting gases; scrubber means for scrubbing exitinggases; venting means for venting exiting gases;said venting meansincluding pressure letdown valve means for depressurizing exiting gasesand at least one stack for releasing exiting gases; and, conduit meansconnecting said gas cooling means, said scrubber means, and said ventingmeans.
 14. The preheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 1, saidcombustion air means includinga centrifugal air compressor;saidcentrifugal air compressor includingsuction filters to eliminate dust;and water cooled intercoolers to remove the heat of compression.
 15. Thepreheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 1, said combustion airmeans includingmeans for preheating combustion air to approximately700-750 degrees C.
 16. The preheat reactor assembly as recited in claim15, said means for preheating combustion air includinga reformer heatrecuperator system.
 17. The preheat reactor assembly as recited in claim1, said natural gas injection means comprisinga series of burnerslocated within said lower cavity portion and about the circumference ofsaid reactor vessel.
 18. The preheat reactor assembly as recited inclaim 17, said preheat reactor including a gas distribution meanslocated within said lower cavity portion;said natural gas injectionmeans located above said gas distribution means.
 19. The preheat reactorassembly as recited in claim 18, said natural gas injection means beinglocated about 1 meter above the gas distribution means.
 20. The preheatreactor assembly as recited in claim 1, said natural gas injection meansin combination with said combustion air means maintaining an air to gasratio of about 2% O₂ mixing with the natural gas, the combinationthereof being referred to as flue gas.
 21. The preheat reactor assemblyas recited in claim 17, said preheat reactor includingburner de-pluggingmeans for preventing plugging of said burners.
 22. The preheat reactorassembly as recited in claim 21,said preheat reactor including purge gassupply means for supplying purge gas; said burner de-plugging meansincluding means for injecting said purge gas through said burners. 23.The preheat reactor assembly as recited in claim 22, said purge gascomprisingsteam.
 24. The preheat reactor assembly as recited in claim22, said burner de-plugging means including means for controlling theinjection of said purge gas.
 25. The assembly as recited in claim 1,said preheat reactor comprisinga carbon steel shell and a dualinsulation and refractory layer; said dual insulation and refractorylayer internally lining said carbon steel shell.